ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Multiple area businesses are now trying to repair their service trucks after thieves cut off the catalytic converters. The Crawford Company had one service truck hit sometime over the weekend. Crews realized the change Monday morning after turning on the truck and hearing a loud boom.
Facility manager Beau Caras says they knew right away something was wrong. “We fired it up. The driver was about to head out for a delivery, and it was just super loud and I just thought wow it wasn’t that loud on Friday. So, I crawled underneath to see if something happened and go to find out the whole catalytic converter was missing.”
Caras says it wouldn’t take much to be able to cut through the pipe. “Probably just a battery-operated saw is all it would take to cut right through it. Once it starts cutting into the metal it’s pretty loud but where we’re at and located no one is around to hear it.”
The truck was the only one parked out of view of a security camera. “Just in a parking spot where he really couldn’t be seen if you’re laying down.” This work truck had two of the catalytic converters on it, but only one was taken. Caras says he thinks the person had to be in a rush. “They were in a hurry probably.”
The part itself helps reduce toxic gas and pollutants from going into the air, but it’s what is inside that people tend to be after. Caras saying, “A police officer was telling me that a gram of the material inside was going for like 800 dollars. So I’m not sure how many grams would be in the convertor themselves.” Caras says minimum however, the pieces go for at least that much.
Caras says it’s something that will set them back despite it just being one truck. “Trying to get vehicles in general is hard to get and we're short on delivery vehicles in the first place so yeah it sets us back a little bit.”
Rock Island Police say this is something they’ve heard happening all over the Quad Cities. The normal charges would be a high misdemeanor or low felony.